MoDOT Gets Ready for Annual Snow Fight
JEFFERSON CITY – With winter weather looming in the near future, the Missouri Department of Transportation is gearing up for the year’s first snowfall. MoDOT is armed and ready for large accumulations thanks to new wider plows, snow removal equipment that the agency is the first in the world to use and advanced salt application training.
“Plowing snow is a very big challenge and consumes a lot of time, fuel and other resources,” said MoDOT State Maintenance Engineer Jim Carney. “With our new larger plows, our new TowPLows and additional salt application training, we can save time and resources, while making roadways safer than ever before.”
Motorists will be able to drive on cleaner roads more quickly after a snowstorm, thanks to new, wider plows used by some department crews. These plows can clear a driving lane in one pass, as opposed to two passes like the older plows. This saves time, fuel and other resources and allows drivers to get on the roads quicker. MoDOT has approximately 1,800 snowplows, and around 200 of those are the newer, wider plows.
“We call this one-pass clearing, which not only reduces the amount of time to plow the routes, but reduces the chances of weather-related crashes as well,” Carney said. “We get to provide better service without adding additional staff.”
MoDOT plans to buy more of the wider plows as equipment is replaced.
Another new piece of equipment being used in St. Louis and Kansas City on multi-lane highways is the TowPLow, a 30-foot plow designed to trail behind a standard plowing truck. MoDOT is the first and only transportation department in the world using this equipment. When attached to a plowing truck, the TowPLow can clear almost two and a half traffic lanes at one time, the same as three standard snowplows.
Comprehensive training on applying salt to roadways is another way MoDOT will make snow removal more efficient, while also saving money. In an average year, MoDOT uses 246,000 tons of salt. MoDOT crews were recently trained on using a salt-application device that will help cut down on salt use. The device is a computer in the snowplow trucks that controls the salt application and makes the snowplow driver’s job easier and safer. This technology can reduce the amount of salt used and save the department up to $2 million a year on salt supplies.
MoDOT spends an average of $31 million a year on snow removal including labor, materials and equipment. More than 3,000 MoDOT maintenance workers and 1,800 snow removal vehicles are available for duty anytime day or night, and department facilities are stocked with snow-removal materials by Nov 1.
“We have no way of knowing if we will see a lot of snow this winter,” Carney said. “No matter what the weather, we work hard to keep roadways clear for motorists.”
During inclement weather, roads with the highest traffic volumes are treated and cleared first to help the greatest number of motorists. These include interstate highways and other major routes, which are continuously plowed and treated throughout a storm. The most heavily traveled sections of other routes are the next priority, and although they are plowed until they’re open to traffic, they are not continuously treated with salt. These routes will be treated with salt where snow and ice conditions may make driving more difficult, such as steep hills, sharp curves, intersections, bridges and railroad crossings. Lower-volume routes are the next priority.
“We ask that motorists remember to stay behind the plows and give us plenty of room to clear the road,” Carney said. “The quicker we can plow, the quicker roads get cleared for travel.”
For information on road conditions across the state, safe traveling tips and a diagram on driveway clearing techniques, visit www.modot.org or call 888-ASK MODOT. Recorded road-condition information is available at (800) 222-6400.
